April Fools
by 4cherryblossoms
Summary: A soldier who loved a hero and a mechanic who loved a prodigy--two women who fell in love with fools. Implied Royai and EdWin.
1. Love Umbrella

_Hello! :D Well... it's been ages since I've posted, eh? I was really busy with all the school work. But now it's all over--I'm graduating high school next week! Haha.  
So... anyway. Here's a little April Fools er... tribute? XD_

_I originally submitted this for the Fullmetal Alchemist Big Bang Challenge at LiveJournal. :)  
__This was partly inspired by the manga gaiden/FMA:B OVA, "Simple People" (by the fact that the two stories revolve around Riza and Winry... somewhat. XD)_

___Anyway, without further ado, here's the first part of "April Fools"--Love Umbrella._

___________Oh, and I'd like to thank my wonderful beta, Mere. xD _

* * *

**Love Umbrella**

It was only midday, but the sky was already dark. The sun was nowhere in sight and in its place overlooking Amestris were dark, heavy rain clouds. The rain had started pouring early in the morning and hasn't ceased since. The weather reports predict a storm coming along.

Despite the gloomy weather, work continues in Eastern Headquarters. Lunch break was over, and the officers and enlisted personnel were now making their way back to their offices to resume the day's work. Colonel Roy Mustang—obviously affected by the wet weather—walked back rather sluggishly to his desk, which was oddly neat today, despite it having the usual mountains of paperwork. It only appeared neat because most of these stacks were still untouched.

He took some of the papers he had finished and deposited them on the desk nearest his—Lieutenant Hawkeye's—before plopping down onto his chair and spinning it around to face the window. The Colonel crossed his arms as he leaned back into his chair. Just as he watched the raindrops slide down the glass windows, his eyelids started to droop, until he eventually closed his eyes and succumbed to sleep. _It'll only be for a few minutes… after that, I'll… get back… to… wor…k…_

Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye, who had just returned from a quick visit to the restroom, was surprised to find that the Colonel had already finished a portion of his work for the day (usually on days like this, he would usually start mid-afternoon till overtime), mostly just the documents that needed General Grumman's immediate approval. "Colonel?" She said as she saw the Colonel's chair turned around, back facing her, as if he was looking out the window.

Quietly, she made her way around his desk to confirm her suspicion. He was sleeping. Again. But instead of waking him up, the Lieutenant, with a grin hidden from the other occupants of the office, leaned towards the Colonel with a pen in hand.

"Lieute—" Second Lieutenant Jean Havoc called as he spotted Riza. She put a finger to her lips, silencing the second lieutenant, who gave an enlightened nod, turned away from the scene, and instead focused on lighting his cigarette.

The Colonel shifted in his seat, blinking away the sleepiness as the artificial light of the room made its way to his eyes. It was still raining, but somehow, after that (not so) short nap, he felt less sluggish. Now ready to resume his work, he spun around to face his desk once again, only to be greeted by his subordinates' laughter-suppressed faces.

"What's so funny?" He asked the men, who quickly turned back to their work, but whose faces told him they already wanted to laugh out loud. Upon receiving no response, he turned to Lieutenant Hawkeye, who, unlike the men, had a straight face. She took hold of a document and was in a pose as if she was reading and threw a sideways glance at Roy.

Roy looked down on the papers on his desk, and one certain sheet of paper caught his attention. Unlike the others, it wasn't a military document. At the center of the white page were the words, "Because you're useless when it rains, have an umbrella." The words were neatly written, in a print he was all too familiar with. He looked at Riza with a questioning glance.

Again, she said no words, but made a motion of leaning her cheek against her palm. Struck with a sudden realization, Roy's hand darted to his desk drawer, withdrawing from it a small mirror. Indeed, he did "have an umbrella"—right there, on his cheek, drawn with an oil-based pen.

He looked at it closely within the mirror, and after what seemed like a minute of inspection, he laughed. It was laughter far from sardonic; it was musical and cheery. "Oh! I get it, I get it. It's April First," he mused. The others laughed along with him. He was still gazing at his image, particularly at Lieutenant Hawkeye's drawing of an umbrella.

Riza smiled as she resumed her work, allowing the men a little time to enjoy the joke for themselves. She was indeed a person of discipline and no-nonsense, but she was also a person for time. There is a time for everything; and just as there is a time for work, there should be a time for jokes.

_Roy + Riza –_she wrote it on his cheek, underneath the 'umbrella', in the smallest possible lettering that only the two of them could see it. Of course, it was a joke. But then again, jokes are half-meant. She smiled.

_I fell in love with a fool, and I know I'm not the only one.  
_

_

* * *

_

**End** of Part One.

_A/N: I'm not used to this kind of stuff. XD I find the end of this chapter a bit too cheesy for my liking. XD  
(And it'll be hard to understand if you don't know what in the world a "love umbrella" is. XDDD )_


	2. Iron Butterfly

**Iron Butterfly**

Winry Rockbell sat on the front porch steps of her grandmother's house, her hand clutching the end of an umbrella. It was raining rather hard; apparently, a storm was passing by the East, which was quite rare for landlocked Amestris. The weather seemed to coincide with Winry's heart today though; her expression was far from cheery and sunny as she usually was.

Earlier that day, she received a call from the Fullmetal Alchemist, her childhood friend, Edward Elric. It seems he had broken his automail again, and he needed it fixed right away. _Ed, you idiot._ Winry thought as she looked out over the path leading to their house. Suddenly, in the distance, a lone figure came into view. Winry straightened up as the figure became more distinguished—it was Alphonse, and in his metal arms was his older brother. She ran up to the brothers, holding up her umbrella to shield them from the rain.

"Idiots!" Winry raged as she threw a towel at Edward's head. "You get yourselves into fights and break your automail, then you come running here soaked in rain. Really, you two are so…" she trailed off and sighed, not bothering to finish her sentence. Al mumbled apologies for himself and his brother, while Ed simply laughed sheepishly.

"It can't be helped," Ed said as he gazed down at his wrecked automail leg, with it bolts and springs sticking out. He was seated on a chair with his left leg stretched out over an ottoman. "Well, at least it wasn't completely blown off, eh?" He laughed nervously, wary of the wrench Winry could so easily pull out and hurl at his head. Although it was surprising that she hadn't done that yet, as usually, the wrench came with her greeting of 'Ed, you idiot!'

She hurled not a wrench, but a menacing glare and dropped the toolbox she was carrying by his foot—or rather, _on_ his foot, before disappearing into another room to get her other tools. Ed almost tumbled off his chair from the pain inflicted on his foot, but was luckily kept in place by Al, who immediately took the box off his brother's toe.

Edward frowned at his throbbing toe as he shot daggers at the toolbox with his gaze. All of a sudden though, he had an idea. "Al! Gimme the toolbox, quick!" He whispered hastily, motioning for Al. Alphonse did as he was told, though curious of what his brother was plotting now.

The Fullmetal Alchemist let out a mischievous snicker as he emptied the contents of the toolbox onto the table beside him. Before them were Winry's prized wrenches, screwdrivers, and all sorts of other tools. Edward looked around him, and as soon as he was sure Winry was still out of sight, he clapped his hands. "Brother, wha—" Ed grinned as he placed his metal transmutations back into its container and hurriedly put the toolbox back on the floor where Winry had left it.

"Okay, let me look at your leg then," Winry said as she reentered the room. Ed was watching her expectantly, trying not to show his giddiness, but was failing, somehow. Winry looked at him confusedly as she opened the toolbox. "What in the—" She managed to utter. To her surprise, all her tools were gone, only to be replaced by iron butterflies.

"Ed," Winry turned to him, a smile plastered on her face, though it was far from happy. "Where did my tools go?" Her eye twitched, and a vein on her forehead throbbed. If looks could kill, Ed might as well as be dead right now.

"Ah, uhm… Winry," He held his hands up, as if stopping her from any rash action she may do. Winry was a nice girl, but if you get on her bad side, it'll be a miracle if you come out in a form other than bloody pulp. Winry would have been ready to unleash her wrath on the poor alchemist, but her anger suddenly faded as she gazed more intently at the iron butterflies. Yes, he broke his automail, and he even had the nerve to transmute her tools into something so trivial, but somehow, it made her happy.

Ever since their childhood, butterflies had always fascinated her, and always gave her this feeling of happiness. The way it gently flutters along the breeze, its development from an unassuming caterpillar to a unique butterfly, its colors and patterns… and how the brothers would fight over catching butterflies.

- - -

"_It's not moving anymore," a young Winry cried as she looked through a small glass jar, where a butterfly, now limp and motionless, lay at the bottom. "Is it… d-dead?" Her eyes started to dampen; sadness was etched on her face._

"_Don't worry, we can catch another one, right, Al?" Edward nudged his brother. He had a look of determination in his eyes; of course, he didn't want Winry to cry, and he wanted to impress. Al nodded._

_A tear escaped Winry's eye; almost instantly, Al pulled out a handkerchief and handed it to Winry. He didn't say any words._

"_Winry!" Ed called in his usual tough manner. The girl and his brother looked at him. Ed drew an array with a piece of chalk, pulled out his own handkerchief, and transmuted it into a butterfly made of cloth. "This one won't die like the last one." He mumbled, and handed her the cloth butterfly._

- - -

"W-Winry?" Ed mumbled. Winry's anger was gone, and she was smiling. She took out one of the iron butterflies and held it in her hand, before giving out a chuckle. Ed and Al were puzzled by her sudden change of expression. Sometimes, it was really hard to understand girls. "I'll… just transmute them back then," Ed said as he took the toolbox from Winry.

"Yeah, you'd better," Winry joked. "But I'll keep this one." She smiled.

_It's true, I'm not the only one to fall in love with a fool._

* * *

**End**.


End file.
